The principal objectives of the Canadian Society for the Study of Names (CSSN) are to promote the study of all aspects of names and naming in Canada and elsewhere, as well as the exchange of ideas among onomatologists, toponymists and scholars in the related fields of literary onomastics and linguistic aspects of names.
Some milestones in the history of the CSSN
1951 -- Onomastica launched in Slavic Studies at the University of Manitoba and under the aegis of Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences.
1966 -- At the Ninth International Congress of Onomastic Sciences held in London, England, Professor J.B. Rudnyckyj proposed the creation of the Institute of Onomastic Sciences.
1967 -- The first meeting of the Institute was held at Carleton University in conjunction with the conference of the Learned Societies of Canada.
1977 -- The Institute was reorganized under the new name of the Canadian Society for the Study of Names (CSSN) / Société canadienne pour l’étude des noms (SCEN).
-- A bulletin, The Name Gleaner, was launched.
1980 -- A joint symposium was held with the Commission de toponymie du Québec with one day devoted to a review of toponymic research priorities in Canada.
-- The first toponymic excursion was offered to participants.
-- Jean-Paul Drolet was elected an honorary member of the Society.
1983 -- The journal Onomastica became Onomastica Canadiana.
-- CSSN was admitted as a constituent member of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities.
1986 -- The French name of the Society was changed to Société canadienne d’onomastique.
1987 -- In Québec, members met with ICOS and participated at a joint session with representatives from the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names (held in Montreal).
2008 -- ICOS was held in Toronto, with the participation of CSSN.
Our constitution
The constitution of CSSN was adopted at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in 1979. It was then revised at Victoria, British Columbia, in May 1990 and at Lennoxville, Québec, in June 1999. Finally, editorial amendments were made in May 2012, at Waterloo, Ontario.
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